Sunday, November 10, 2013

Toyota Owner: Ride 'A Near Death Experience'

And then the phony apologies from Akio Toyoda about a problems TOYOTA ignored, refused to correct, killing and injuring far too many innocent victims.

Below are 2013 complaints from Consumer Affairs regarding only TOYOTA PRIUS.[Other model complaints are available on link.]

Remember that only a small fraction of people complain.

Things were going along pretty well for Toyota until it inadvertently became the World Recall Champion. What with the unintended acceleration problem, weird goings-on with the Prius and a rash of setbacks, Toyota suddenly finds itself trying to repair its once-stellar reputation.

Nevertheless, many consumers willingly pay a premium price for Toyotas, spending thousands more than they'd pay for a comparable car from another manufacturer.

Cora of Basehor, MO on Oct. 28, 2013
At 88K miles, a light came on to add oil. I thought this was odd having a 1998 Toyota that I have never had to add oil in between service. My car was consistently down 1/3 of a quart for every 1000 miles. I was told this was normal and did not fall under my warranty. This is crap. I have owned 4 Toyotas and this has never happened before. Do not fall for this!!!

Max of Lago Vista, TX on Oct. 25, 2013
We bought our Toyota Prius new in 2010. All regular service and maintenance has been done at a Toyota Dealer in Round Rock, Texas. At 40K miles, I noticed a yellow caution light would flash briefly when changing lanes or making turns. This problem occurred more frequently as time went on. On the last oil change, we were told that the flashing light indicated an engine oil leak. This would cost anywhere between $3200 and $6000 to fix. We buy Toyotas faithfully, since we do expect better quality than a Ford or a Chevy product. So now, the best that Toyota can do is pay $800 towards this Prius to fix a major engine problem. This is outrageous!! The anticipated gas savings are far outweighed by the higher cost of the car and an expensive repair job to the engine. I would have been far ahead if I would have bought a Ford or a Chevy!! ARE YOU READING THIS, TOYOTA CORPORATE MANAGEMENT!!!!!!!

John of Rocklin, CA on Oct. 14, 2013
Lost both smart keys to my Toyota Prius, and come to find out, the Roseville Toyota dealership wants $700.00 to replace one key. I called numerous locksmiths who cannot work on the car due to proprietary reasons Toyota has in place. Since I have no choice, I paid the exorbitant fee. I could have purchased a really nice home computer for that price, or for that matter, almost a whole engine for that price. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing another car from Toyota and their unscrupulous business practices. I would have never bought the car 4 years ago had I known about the ridiculous replacement cost for a Prius smart key.

Dena of Bethesda, MD on Oct. 7, 2013
I was parking and was about to apply parking brake which I always use. I had my foot on brake pedal when car suddenly lurched to the right, jumped a curb, grazed a signpost leaving green paint along the passenger side of the car. The car stopped as suddenly as it had lurched to the right and stopped across an entrance lane to the parking lot. No one was hurt, just shook up from this frightening and potentially lethal event. I have less than 7000 miles on the car and up to now have been in love with it and its performance. I guess I will get over the scare. Right now, it is at the dealer's awaiting the Toyota Case Manager's inspection.

Donna of Abingdon, MD on Sept. 30, 2013
I bought a new 2010 Toyota Prius from the dealer. It has 66,000 miles on it. I noticed at 65,000 miles that it had a horrible noise coming from the rear. Took the car in for a recall on the brake assembly and asked them to check the rear tires, suspension, etc. They told me the car was fine and it may need balancing. Took the car to another car repair shop and they told me the rear bearings were bad and that it would cost $603.00 to replace bearing and hub in the right rear wheel only.
Next day, they said that Toyota would pay half of the cost. I am still paying on this car and have had numerous Toyotas in the past that I never had a problem with the bearing. I think that it is unreasonable that this part is not covered 100%. The car is garage kept day and night and the miles are high from driving to work on the highway. After reading on the internet, I noticed that there are quite a few people who have had bearing problems with the 2010 Prius, so I assume that this is a defective part in that year car.

Emilio of Miami, FL on Sept. 26, 2013
I went to Kendall Toyota and I bought a 2010 Toyota Prius. Two weeks later, had to return car, it was a mess. They offer me 2012 with 14,000 on 03/24/13. On around 09/12/13, I had two flats two weeks in a row. I told the service advisor if the tires had any warranty, car has 29,000. He said no. I notice the tires were bad in the front . I decide to put Michelin Supremacy, cost me $758.00 . I notice the car had a lot of vibration while driving between 60 and 70 mph. I was told it needed balance. They balanced the tires again, car has the same problem. I wrote to Toyota because in any car vibration is not normal. They told me to go back to the dealership. The master tech told me that the car has no problem, it was normal. Even the passenger car shake when you drive this car.
I am in resolution with Toyota now but the mail that I received after all this is that dealership checked the Prius and found no problem. I mean they don't even read the email that I wrote telling them the dealership found no problem with my Prius. I am that one the has to drive the car every day and the car has a lot vibration. Which I consider not safe for my family. I am still waiting on Toyota as of 09/26/2013. It's a shame that their vision is about safety which right now I don't believe they care about.

Cecilia of Gainesville, FL on Sept. 10, 2013
I have a Prius and for over a year now I've had a problem with the battery. When it's hot outside, the battery drops from fully charged to 1 or 2 bars and the car loses power. The first time I took the car to the dealer was in June 2012. They always tell me there is nothing wrong with the car and that behavior is normal. Well, it is not. It happens every afternoon when I leave work and the car has been sitting in the sun for hours. It is a safety issue. It doesn't matter how fast I'm driving. As the car loses power, my speed goes suddenly down and it has happened more than a few times on the highway. It has also affected the performance of the car. I used to get between 44 and 46 miles per gallon on a regular basis and now I can hardly get 40 with luck. I just dropped the car one more time @ the dealer this morning but I'm not expecting them to fix it. I'll let them know though that if I get involved in a car accident, I'll sue them and I have proof that they have been negligent in dealing with my problem.

linda of Murphys, CA on Sept. 4, 2013
My '05 Prius Toyota has yet another problem - besides stopping automatically, pedal sticking, 2 recalls now - the interactive screen is un-interactive - I see it's detailed in TSB EL002-05, and their fix is to swap in a new unit. I am exhausted with repairs to this car - what are ya gonna do?

Ronald of Kalamazoo , MI on Sept. 3, 2013
My wife and I bought two new 2013 Toyota Priuses. The navigation system on both has dark purple screens in metropolitan areas. And night screen is almost black. Toyota said there is nothing they can do to correct this situation. Which is very disappointing. We are going to put our Garmin back on the windshield. At least we can see the screen. Be very weary if you are considering a Toyota w/ navigation. I suggest you not get the navigation system and save yourself the cost. Also the Entune system needs a cell phone in order to operate. Never heard of such a thing in order to have the tech system work. So in conclusion the Toyotas are good mechanically, but suck technically

Makayla of Beckley, WV on Aug. 30, 2013
First and foremost, I own a 2011 Toyota Prius, purchased in January of 2012, brand new. While I have owned an FWD vehicle as well as an AWD vehicle, I have never found a vehicle that performs as poorly as this one in the snow. The car entirely disables function whenever it slides which is lethal when you live in a mountainous area and need some gas to make it up the hills/mountains and rough terrain. There is also no way to disable the "traction control," either, and if you expect your ABS to work, then you're an optimist.
The next complaint I have with the vehicle is my rapidly growing problems with the brakes. I commute roughly 50 miles to my school everyday, and this is growing to be a huge safety hazard for someone who travels as much as I do. Anytime my car hits rough terrain, a pothole, even a small patch of ice or wet roads, my brakes accelerate me forward. This has happened to me on numerous occasions (and it happens daily) going around curves, down hills & has put me into numerous situations that could have been lethal if I weren't a responsive driver.
My car had been at the dealership twice over the issue & both times I was told, "We ran diagnostics and couldn't replicate the issue," basically insinuating I was lying. The irony is I traded in my WRX because of brake issues for the Prius. Another issue I have is with Electronics in my car. It does strange things, which I disregarded recently as quirks such as the lights flickering on the display at night, and my CD player ejecting all 6 discs at me while I'm driving down the road. The fact of the matter is that all the problems have been ignored by not only the dealerships, but also Toyota itself. The car has great potential to be an amazing vehicle if Toyota would cooperate with its consumers, and take our warnings as well. I feel mildly guilty wanting to trade out of it, but that seems to be my only option. I'm just afraid of its potential danger to not only me, but everyone else as well.

JOHN of Ringgold, GA on Aug. 24, 2013My 2009 Prius lost the headlights after about 50k miles and my battery died shortly thereafter. I met another owner having the light problem and the cost for both is about $600.Sarah of San Diego, CA on July 31, 2013I bought a pre-owned "certified" Prius in 2012. It is a 2007 year model. Last Sept '12, I brought it in because the gas gauge was not responding when filled. I went in and they said they "reset" it. Now here it is, less than a year later, same problem. I have driven this car less than 8,000 miles since purchased. Now I have to pay $900 to fix it, for a car I have barely driven. I am furious, needless to say. So after spending nearly $20,000 a year and half ago, barely driving the car, I am hit with this, AND they say that it will need a new aux battery, too, at another $300!! "Certified" my **. I will spend until my last breath making sure everyone knows about this Toyota dealership in Carlsbad, CA.carol of Long Barn, CA on July 18, 2013Driving the Prius I set the cruise control at 42MPH, continued on route without taking C/C off. Speed limit changed so I increased my speed by using the C/C to new speed. As I continued the engine started racing and the car went into neutral, but the dash stated it was still in drive mode. This happened on a hill and I was told by dealership that this was normal. The only way to stop it was hit brake and put car back into drive without C/C on. I thought this was dangerous and unsafe. I have run the car down the same hill in C/C with no problem. But it seems increasing the speed by the C/C dial seems to affect it and it cannot stay in drive. They are telling me that it is normal way for the car to run since it has no brakes on a hill. They also stated that it was made for flat land and not hills. They are not doing anything about it.Richard of Palm Bay, FL on July 16, 2013Every time I drive the headlights will go out. I turn them off and then back on and they work for a while then go out again. I replaced them twice and still the same problem. After research people say the HID/ECU is bad but Toyota dealer says they cannot replace that unless I put new bulbs in again. This is not right. They should have a recall.Delta of Charlotte, NC on June 8, 2013On the way back from a road trip, a warning signal came on my dashboard. As I attempted to get off on the nearest exit, my steering wheel locked up and I was barely able to turn off the exit. The "PS" warning signal was on. I took my car to the Toyota dealer after "PS" warning signal came on - indicating a problem with the power steering. I was told both the power steering gear assembly and ECU would need to be replaced, totaling over $2,000 in repairs. I got quotes for the repairs from several other Toyota dealerships, one for $2,500 and one for $3,889, with all 3 Toyota dealerships failing to inform me there was a recall on that specific part.
I later find that there was a recall on the power steering gear assembly unit for my car (2002 Prius), which Toyota failed to inform me of. After calling Toyota headquarters and Toyota Customer Service Experience, I was told my specific VIN number was NOT included in the recall, and that there was nothing they could do about it. I then call the dealership where I got the car from, and I was told that there was a recall on my car and that the repairs had been done before I even got the car, but that the warranty had expired.
I then called back Toyota at 1-800-331-4331. I was given a different answer this time. I was told that my car was included in the recall, but that the warranty was expired. I then explained the danger of the situation with my steering wheel having a potential to lock up at any time due to this faulty part. However Toyota felt they were not responsible for this part, and that the responsibility fell on me for these faulty repairs. Before this experience I was very supportive of Toyota up until now. But now seeing how they conduct business and didn't seem to care that a faulty part in my car could have been life threatening, I am no longer a consumer of Toyota. I was very surprised and disappointed at the treatment I received.

Cindy of Ocean Springs, MS on May 30, 2013I love my Prius 2006, but I have had a problem with the headlights since it was new. I have received two warning tickets from the police over the years. The funny thing is that one light will be out, and I turn the lights off and on again, and amazingly, the light bulb is back on. The police are surprised because they thought the headlight was burnt out. So how is that explained? Toyota says it is a faulty headlight. Toyota replaced them initially. Since then, I have replaced them too. At first, one headlight went off and on randomly, now they go out both randomly when I hit the brakes.
When I replaced one, the other started having the problem instead of the new one. I am so frustrated and was told that I have to replace both bulbs at the same time, which I will do next. The bulbs are $170.00. It seems like it could be electrical to me and I would like Toyota to fix this problem. I have told my dealership about the problem just about every time I come in, and I have called Toyota customer service. It seems like no one is listening to me and Toyota does not care, and that is so upsetting!

Danielle of Upper Marlboro, MD on May 28, 2013
I have a 2005, 110,000 mile Prius and my HV battery just died. Toyota wants me to buy a new battery for $5,000! My car is only worth $5,000! SHAME ON YOU TOYOTA!!! I will never buy a Toyota again. Before this car, I had two Corollas and my mom has an MR2. Is this how you treat your loyal customers? I will NEVER buy a Toyota again. I was your biggest cheerleader... until now :(

Sue of Shasta Lake, CA on May 17, 2013I have a 2008 Prius which I bought 5 years ago, package 5. Last week, I found a personal safety flaw in the locking system. When you open the trunk latch, it opens all the doors and you cannot relock until the trunk is shut. I usually find this feature helpful. But last week I was grocery shopping, I came out to my car, opened the trunk to put groceries in and someone jumped in the passenger side of the car taking whatever they could. I called the dealership and they said there is no way to reprogram the locking system. The crooks know about this and are taking advantage of it.Mitchell of Fremont, CA on March 31, 2013I have previously purchased 2 other Prius's; a 2006 with package 2 and a 2009 with package 5. I saw the new Prius in March 2012 and bought one. Within a week after delivery, there seemed to be a slight crack in the glass that started under the windshield wiper. I brought it back to Pierce Toyota in Milpitas a couple of days later. They looked under the wipers and saw a partial hole in the windshield. The hole was smaller than a pin hole. They told me that it was from some road hazard and that is not covered by the guarantee. They told me to make a claim with my auto insurance company ($250 deductible). I appealed that decision to the manger to no avail.
I called up the Toyota national office as outlined in the guarantee book. Again, they are not responsible for road hazard. I asked how possible is it that a pebble less than the size of a pin hole could have gotten under the windshield wiper. I stated that it was a manufacturer’s defect in that they did not clean the car for some loose piece of metal of something that happened in the production of the car. I finally gave up and made a claim with my insurance company because it gotten very large and was affecting my vision when driving.

Middleboro of Middleboro , MA on March 26, 2013On April 23, 2012 I purchased a brand new 2012 Toyota Prius, expecting many years of uneventful and fuel-efficient driving and enjoyed the vehicle for less than one month. Route 44 Toyota refused to repair my car. It had no brakes! How can I drive a vehicle with no brakes? May 8th: At 600 miles, the vehicle transitioned from battery to gas engine with significant impact. Dealer reports, "No computer error message." May 15th: 841 miles and there were no brakes! Again, "No computer error message." May 17th: ~861 miles and the brakes failed repeatedly. It was demonstrated to a Route 44 Toyota technician. Again, "No computer error message."
May 18th: "No computer error message." A "Petition for Defect Investigation" has been filed with NHTSA. There are 7 accidents among the 70 complaints about Prius brakes filed. Will this be the next Toyota failure that causes deaths like the sudden acceleration Toyota ignored?
Illegal business practices: On April 23, 2012 I fully paid for the brand new 2012 Prius and Route 44 Toyota ran my credit report without authorization, even though I never applied for credit. This violates FCRA - Fair Credit Reporting Act. On October 11, 2012 Route 44 Toyota discovered my vehicle on their property with no brakes and requested my credit reports without authorization, as well as those of a disinterested third party. When I posted those facts on the internet, Route 44 Toyota threatened a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) intended to intimidate and bully.

Eric of Spring, TX on March 6, 2013My battery on my 2007 Prius (134k miles) just died and it would cost $3,000 to replace. The dealer was shocked and said it was one of the few times he has seen this happen. Is that true or is this a more regular occurrence? I bought a second Prius (94k) but now feel like a fool if I can expect this to happen on this car as well. I spoke to Toyota and they said they stand behind the battery warranty. The frustrating thing is that in other states, the warranty is 150k.Debra of North Chili, NY on Feb. 16, 2013I have had my Toyota Prius 2009 for 3 years now and have loved the gas mileage. The dealership said they needed to do a 100,000 mile tune up on it. This would cost 300 dollars. Well, I chose not to for several months because the car was running perfectly. I was getting 47 mpg. Every time I went in for an oil change, they said they have to do the tune up. I finally gave in and let them do it. I drive 63 miles one way to work and I want the car well maintained for safety. Well, after doing the tune up, my Prius now gets 38 - 39 mpg. I can't even reach 40 anymore. I thought this so-called tune up was supposed to make the car run better, not worse. I knew I should have gone with my instinct and not had that tune up done. I am a no onager happy person when it comes to the car I have just loved for 3 years.Charles of Washington, WA on Jan. 11, 2013Shortly after the standard warranty disappeared on our 2010 Prius IV, it decided to not let us have full functionality via the navigation "feature". Toyota said, "Sorry, it’s not covered by warranty.” But for $2,600 (plus 9.8% tax), ten percent of the cost of the new car, they said that they would replace the module. They would not guarantee that the module would be new OEM, rather it could be recycled. It’s been hard to go over 45 mpg no matter how gingerly I drive the car. It looks like 42 mpg is the current reading. The Ford Fusion will be in our future for our family's next new car.Debi of Brandon, SD on Jan. 8, 2013Both front parking lights were in need of replacement. The left bulb was replaced for $1.56. However, in order to replace the right front parking light bulb, the entire front bumper needed to come off - for a total of $135. I opted to not replace the bulb at this time. I think this is just a ridiculous design flaw by Toyota. And consumers shouldn't have to pay such a horrible fee for a simple light bulb replacement just because some person in the design department couldn't figure a better option - like just taking off the lamp cover?! How hard would that be? I think Toyota should change the bulb for the same $1.56 cost as the left parking bulb and just eat the cost of taking off the bumper! I am thinking twice about buying another Prius.